California: Can landlords force tenants to renew lease on 1st of month only?

[isabellexuan]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could help me with this urgent issue.

My 14 month lease recently expired on 12/3/2010. For agreeing to be on the 14 month lease, I got a 8 weeks of free rent discount that was divided among the last 13 months of the lease (I paid the full rent the first month). Before my lease ended on 12/3/2010, the landlord sent me a letter to renew my lease. However, the landlord's policy is that they will only renew a lease on the 1st of the month (next January). For signing the new lease, I will get a slightly reduced rate. However, for the month of December, the landlord is forcing me to pay the higher undiscounted rate.

My questions is: can a landlord force me to renew my lease on the first of the month even though my old lease ended on the 3rd? They didn't tell me their policy until 10/22/2010 (so more than 30 days before my lease ends). I have never encountered this issue before with other landlords that I have rented from so it really took me by surprise. None of the leasing agents knew about this policy when I went in to ask them why I had a balance left on my account. The manager finally contacted me on 12/14/2010 to explain this to me even though I have been coming in to see them/calling on the phone and leaving messages.

Sorry for the long post. I wanted to make sure that my question was clear. I would really appreciate any help! Thank you in advance!

 

[mightymoose]

Your landlord is required by law to give you advance notice of any rent increase... I think 60 days.
When your lease expired on 12/3 you became a month to month tenant at the current rate.
It sounds like that in this case the landlord has not increased the rent, but is asking you to pay the agreed amount without the discount you have become used to.
You were apparently aware of their policy a couple months ago and should have renewed your lease before it expired.

On 12/3 you became a month to month tenant. In order to receive the discount you must sign into a new lease. Your landlord could allow your new lease to begin immediately, but does not have to. Perhaps you could offer to pay a prorated amount at the full price for the period between 12/3 and the date you sign a new lease, and a prorated amount for the remainder of the month at the discounted price.

That sounds complicated, but it makes sense.... but for the landlord it is far easier to simply start the lease next month.

No, it doesn't seem that you have much of an argument to make here. Try your best to negotiate an agreement.

 

[isabellexuan]

Hi there, thank you for your help. Sorry if I didn't make it clear before. We tried to come into sign the new lease before our old one expired but they told us that they didn't have the paperwork ready yet. They told us to pay our discounted rent that we have been paying for the last 13 months. So we paid the rent (on time).

They had the paperwork ready on the 12/5/2010, and that's when we came in to sign. We had tried a couple of times to come in before the fourth to sign, but they were busy and told us to come back. The new lease that we signed starts on January 1st, 2010. They said that their policy is to renew leases only on the 1st of any month. This is a policy that is in effect even if we had come in one month early to renew our lease.

 

[isabellexuan]

If I had known this, I would have started my original lease on October 1st, 2009 rather than on the 4th. If I had started my lease on the 10/1/2009, then they would allow me to renew my lease on 12/1/2010 and pay at the discounted price. They said that my situation sucks, but that is their policy. I was surprised by this because my previous landlords just let me renew a lease starting from when the old one expired rather than making me wait for the new month.

Yes, I know we are paying the agreed market rate without the discount for December. That would be fair if I refused to sign a lease. But I signed on for another 12 months. In addition, even though we came in twice and called on the phone, they didn't have our paperwork ready until the 5th. We asked the leasing agent what to pay for December and she told us to pay our at the discounted price, which we did on time. But then we get a notice a couple days later telling us that we had a balance on our account, and because we have a balance, they also tacked on a $50 late fee.

 

[isabellexuan]

Oh and they did raise our rent and told us on 10/22/2010. That does't bother me because I understand that living costs increase ever year. I just wish they had told me that their policy is to only renew at the beginning of every month so that I knew to start my first least at the beginning of the month.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[mightymoose]

Sounds like you have to sort things out as best you can. It seems you did everything right, but their inability to get documents prepared prior to your lease expiring certainly isn't your fault.
How much money are we talking about here? If it isn't much then in the long run it may be easiest to just pay the extra rent, but if you do not pay then you could face potential eviction proceedings and a lengthy fiasco in court... but don't be afraid of court, especially if you feel you are right. So long as you are willing to pay, and continue to pay, you won't get evicted. The court hearing would be your chance to explain to a judge how you attempted to renew the lease, were denied, and given a bogus explanation of policy.
I agree that you should continue to get your discounted rate, but you need to consider how far you are willing to take this. If it is a petty amount then it is not worth the hassle.